I've just started watching the episodes of David Letterman's new interview show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction and I hope when they make more of these, they consider some people who do need introductions.

Dave has always been a fine interviewer when he's genuinely interested in a guest. He did not seem all that happy to have some of them in the chair during the last decade or so of his CBS show which is one of the reasons I think it was not getting the ratings that he and the network wanted. So it's great that he's now got a program where they can be more selective of his interview subjects and I'd like to see them not always be the biggest stars they can bag. Dave was great with lesser-known folks when they were somewhat interesting and he always made them more interesting. Or at least, he was more interesting.

One thing though bothers me about the new show. There's a saying in movies that if you're conscious of the editing, it's not good editing. The cuts they're choosing for Dave's new series are arbitrary and distracting as this gent, Thomas Flight, points out. I agree with him…

Can Kathy Griffin regain the career she once had? Sure…though the article I just linked to seems more interested in how much money she's made in the past than in how much she might make in the future.

I have no particular opinion of the lady as a comedian since I've never seen her perform live and I usually reserve such judgments until I do. But when I first saw her on TV, she was doing some pretty sharp, insightful (and funny) material…and I honestly don't know if she still does.

All I hear now is how she did some bit somewhere that may or may not have been funny but it was definitely shocking. Seems to me she needs to chuck the "how outrageous she is" routine and get back to the "how witty and funny she is," not because of political correctness or fear of reprisals but because I suspect people are forgetting — or never learning in the first place — how well she could do the non-shock stuff.

The comic book community is just now hearing of the death of writer Michael Fleisher, who passed away last February 2 at the age of 75. I don't know a lot about the man. I met him once — a brief, unpleasant encounter — and will leave it to others to write more fully about him. I understand the Comics Journal staff will have a story about him shortly on their website.

What I can tell you is that Fleisher came into the industry around 1971 when he secured a contract to write several super-hero "encyclopedias" and was granted access to the library at DC Comics for research purposes. He spent so many hours in the office that he got to know the staff and began writing scripts for their comics. A special favorite of editor Joe Orlando, Fleisher wrote countless stories for DC's mystery/ghost comics and did long runs on The Spectre, Jonah Hex and many others. His work had many fans and some hard-to-gauge number of detractors.

A lot of people in comics probably remember him best because in 1986, he sued The Comics Journal and writer Harlan Ellison for what Fleisher felt were defamatory remarks in an interview Ellison gave that publication. The suit created great controversy and consumed weeks of court time but the jury was out less than 90 minutes before finding in favor of the Journal, Ellison and the First Amendment. (Full Disclosure: I was supposed to testify for the defendants but the judge disallowed my testimony on a technicality.)

Not long after the verdict, Fleisher largely disappeared from the American comic book industry. He was reportedly living in Oregon when he died earlier this year. We do not know the cause.

Frank Oz — in my opinion, the best puppeteer ever on television…

The other night, Fox aired a previously-unaired 2006 interview with O.J. Simpson, with the network doing everything possible to sell it as Simpson's confession to the 1994 murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. It wasn't exactly that but this is my confession that I watched it and I probably feel more guilt about that than Simpson does for the murders.

I guess you could take what came out of Simpson's mouth as a confession if you wanted to but at no time in it did he say, "Yes, I murdered those two people." What he did so was to talk about the crime in "hypothetical," if-I-did-do-it terms and with enough specificity that just about owned up to being present for the murders without making the ultimate admission.

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell what's true and what isn't because he contaminates his account with loads of obvious lying, mostly involving a non-existent accomplice named Charlie. How can we be sure Charlie is fiction? I'll let Jeff Toobin explain it.

So if someone wants to know what really happened that night and hear O.J. Simpson admit he dunnit, it ain't there. For me, the major surprises were that I watched it at all…and that I found myself not caring very much about any of it. There was a time when I really obsessed on that story, read all the books, watched all the specials. Now, I lack any emotional connection to the story.

I do not think what Simpson has endured since — time spent in jail awaiting the first trial, going through the second, financial penalties paid both to the victims' families and to lawyers and court costs, damage to his rep and serving time for the Vegas crimes — adds up to proper justice. Still, it's a lot more than we see in many murder cases where no arrests are ever made. Something is better than nothing, I guess. But I ain't watching any more O.J. Simpson confessions until he actually confesses. I wonder if anyone has said to him, "You know, you have nothing to lose…"

I'm quite aware that most of you are only coming to this site for reports on the health of Lydia, the feral pussycat I've been feeding in my backyard since they aired the last episode of The Sopranos. I am not suggesting any connection there. Recently, she disappeared for a most-unlike-her amount of time and I feared for her demise. Then she showed up acting very sick and refusing to eat and seeming for all the world like other feral felines I've had around who were not around for long after they started acting like that.

I hauled her off to an after-hours vet who kept us waiting a long time to tell me (a) she was very old, (b) she would likely be dying soon, (c) there was nothing that could be done for her, (d) to please pay on my way out and (e) they didn't accept American Express.

Oh, yes — and I should keep an eye on her, which is one of those things that never would have occurred to me had not a trained and licensed professional suggested it. So I've been keeping an eye on her and it seems to be working because she appears to be pretty much back to normal. In fact, she's eating enough to make up for that week-to-10-days when she hardly ate at all. Maybe it was just a touch of that kitty flu that I haven't heard has been going around.

The above photo was taken ten minutes ago and she seems to be Lydia again. Sorry if I put any of you through needless concern or worry but I'm glad it ended like this.

WonderCon convenes next Friday in Anaheim. As I write this, Saturday-only badges are sold out but you can still buy one for Friday, one for Sunday or one for all three days. Those options may narrow shortly. The entire programming schedule is online here and here are the six I'm hosting…

The Sergio, Mark and Tom Show
Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragonés, and Tom Luth bring you the long-running, award-winning comic featuring the ship-sinking, everyone-slaying Groo the Wanderer. This is a panel where those three people talk about what they do, how they do it, why they do it and how one or two of them actually gets paid for doing it. It's just a very silly panel featuring silly people who do a silly comic book.
Friday, March 23, 2018 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm in Room 208

Writing for Animation
Interested in writing for cartoons or video games? Then you'll want to hear three people who've done it tell you how they've done it: Marv Wolfman (Epic Mickey 2, The Adventures of Superman), Shelly Goldstein (Shelldon, Flying with Byrd), and moderator Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Scooby Doo). They'll talk about script formats, breaking a story, getting the assignment, dealing with sinister forces, and everything else.
Friday, March 23, 2018 from 3:30pm to 4:30pm in Room 300D

Quick Draw!
It's another battle to the death—or at least until dinnertime!—with three lightning-fast cartoonists armed only with Sharpies and sharp senses of humor. The three cartoon combatants are Sergio Aragonés (Groo the Wanderer, MAD magazine), Lonnie Milsap (bacön, Silly Comics)), and Tom Richmond (MAD magazine's star caricaturist). They'll be drawing the suggestions of you, the audience, as well as the Quizmaster of Quick Draws, Mark Evanier. As always, no wagering.
Saturday, March 24, 2018 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm in North 200B

Cartoon Voices
Once again, your host Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show) gathers five masters of speaking for animated superstars to demonstrate their talents. The dais will consist of Neil Ross (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, The Transformers), Eliza Jane Schneider (Final Fantasy, Skylanders), Wally Wingert (Batman: Arkham Asylum, The Garfield Show), Julie Nathanson (Marvel's Avengers, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Far Cry 5), and Townsend Coleman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Tick).
Saturday, March 24, 2018 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm in North 200B

Cover Story: Art of the Cover
What constitutes a good cover on a comic book? How are the best ones created? Be there for this "shop talk" discussion with artists who've been responsible for some of the best, WonderCon special guests Ryan Benjamin (WildC.A.T.S, Batman Beyond), Mitch Gerads (Mister Miracle, The Sheriff of Babylon), Dan Jurgens (Superman, Batman Beyond), and Ed Piskor (Hip Hop Family Tree, X-Men: Grand Design). Moderated by Mark Evanier.
Sunday, March 25, 2018 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm in Room 300B

The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel
They call him the King of the Comics and maybe it should also be King of the Cinema, since so many of his co-creations (like Black Panther) have made it so big in the movies. As always, WonderCon takes time to talk about arguably the greatest superhero artist of them all. Joining in the discussion this year are film critic-historian Leonard Maltin, Kirby museum curator Tom Kraft, attorney Paul S. Levine, former Kirby assistant Steve Sherman, and moderator (another former Kirby assistant) Mark Evanier.
Sunday, March 25, 2018 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in Room 211

As always, things may change. In fact, the participants in a few of my panels have changed since the program guide went to press and was posted on the convention website. The above is correct as of now.

I will be there all three days. I do not sell things at conventions and I refuse to sit at a table for long periods but I will be wandering the hall and if you see me, please say howdy. I can often be found in the vicinity of Sergio Aragonés' table, which is located at A-01. He has a new fake mustache which is much more convincing than those cheap ones he got a case of at Costco years ago.

I've received a number of e-mails from folks asking me about reports (especially this article) that Stan Lee is in bad financial and/or emotional and/or medical shape and that there are those around him who have abused him, robbed him, exploited him or otherwise done wrong by him.

I think I know what's going on but I don't think I know it with enough certainty that I should be repeating it for public consumption, plus some of it is just plain none of our business. There's too much of that going on already…and please, could we all agree that if you haven't been in the same room with Stan lately, your opinions about his medical condition are largely worthless? I mean, we all know he's 95 years old and that he's been ill lately (ill enough to cancel on a few convention appearances) and that he lost his beloved wife of almost 70 years. It's safe to say that did some damage.

Beyond that, a lot of it's speculation from afar and that's not helpful. I personally have some very mixed feelings about Stan Lee but I have enough affection for him to not add to the pile of rumors, some of which are obviously wrong or askew. I'm convinced there are enough lawyers and law enforcement officials and benevolent friends of Stan swarming around this matter that he's now as protected as he can be, and that the truth will eventually come out, though maybe not in his lifetime. What matters most now is his health and comfort…and I'm thinking he could also do with a little privacy.

We deal with the vital, important issues on this blog. Here's a history of the cheese toast at Sizzler…

Trump's gone too far. It's bad enough I have to listen to him when I'm awake but last night, he turned up in a dream I had. It wasn't much of a dream but it was in three acts…

Act One was Trump announcing something about fried chicken. It wasn't clear what he was going to do about fried chicken but he was going to do something.

Act Two was all the news shows and all the pundits discussing just what Trump had in mind about fried chicken and trying to parse his vague, ambiguous statements. Stephen Colbert was doing jokes about Trump's new laws governing fried chicken and all my friends were calling me to ask, "What do you think Trump's going to do about fried chicken?" and there was a general panic that he was going to ban it or insist we all buy Trump-brand fried chicken or maybe he'd deregulate gravy — oh, and he was going to put Jared in charge of chicken soup except that he couldn't get a security clearance from Colonel Sanders…

And then Act Three was the walkback the next day when it turns out that Trump probably isn't going to do anything about fried chicken or if he is, he doesn't know what or when yet and might still change his mind. I think the whole dream was inspired by the announcement that he's maybe possibly going to do something about Korea which might include a meeting or might not and might possibly include a predetermined agenda if it happens at all which it might not.

Once again, I am reminded of my favorite quote about covering the news, which was uttered by the late Jack Germond. He said, "The trouble with reporting is that we aren't paid to say 'I don't know' — so we have to say something even when we don't know."

WonderCon in Anaheim starts two weeks from today and they've just posted the entire programming schedule. I'm hosting six panels and I'll be posting the list here in a day or three. I need to make a few adjustments in who's on a couple of my panels because of certain folks suddenly not being able to be there.

If you're thinking of attending, get your badges now. Saturday is sold out…can Friday and Sunday be far behind? Whatever admissions are left can be purchased here.

And if you're going, spend some time on the WonderCon website. A lot of people who have complaints about this convention and Comic-Con International come to me with them, in a few cases wrongly thinking that I'm part of the staff or that I have the power to make more parking spaces magically appear. I would say that a good 70% of the complaints sent in my direction fall into two categories, the first being Unrealistic Expectations.

Unrealistic Expectations can range from the big to the small. The small can be to expect that dealers will have all the merchandise you seek at prices you'll be happy to pay…and it's somehow the fault of the convention if they don't. Or to think that you can go to an event that will attract a dozen thousand attendees and you'll never have to wait in a line or not be able to get down an aisle without someone bumping into you.

Yes, it's crowded. That's because you're not the only one who wanted to be there. They could reduce the crowding by not letting as many people obtain badges but then you'd be joining the group complaining you couldn't get a badge.

The Really Unrealistic Expectations? Well, I can recall a guy a few years ago who went to several San Diego conventions and was steamed that Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko was not present and signing autographs at any of them. The following conversation ensued…

ME: Steve Ditko doesn't go to conventions, sign autographs, grant interviews or even allow his photo to be taken.

HIM: Well, the convention should do something about that.

More recently, I got a long, rambling e-mail from a gent who was parboiled that he went to Comic-Con International with the intent of hooking up with someone at Marvel who would hire him to write the X-Men comic book. He admitted that there just might be others in the hall who had the same wish-dream but he was upset that he never found a way to even apply for the job. I'm guessing that was because the convention was too busy sending a squadron to New York to capture Steve Ditko and drag him to San Diego against his will. The Unreasonable Expectations people need to appreciate what's there — and believe me, there's plenty — rather than to bitch 'n' moan over what's not.

The other category is the Criminally Unprepared…and if you're going, you can do an awful lot to avoid joining this throng. Do a little research, starting with the convention's most-informative website. Take the time to look over that Programming Schedule I just mentioned and make a list of events you must see, events you might see and events you might go see if your first choice is full.

Look over the list of exhibitors, note where they're located and spend enough time on the map of the hall to get a little sense of where things are.

Plan when you're going to get there, where you're going to park, where you're going to eat, etc. If you want to meet up with others, see if you can make appointments in advance instead of hoping to run into them or finding them at their table or panel. Just put a little time into it and you'll maximize the joys of your visit.

Comic conventions have gotten incredibly diverse. This is good because there are lots of different things happening there, some of which will enrapture you and some of which could cause drowsiness faster than a fistful of Ambien. It's bad because you have to do a little more work to locate the stuff that's of interest to you and to avoid that which is not. The videogame aisles can be a very good place to visit if you're sick of being able to hear.

But do the work. You'll be glad if you do…and so will I.

In or around 1931, the Chicago Tribune produced a promotional film called From Trees to Tribunes about how their newspaper was produced each day. We have here an excerpt from said promotional film. It's the segment about various comic strip artists who were then producing strips that ran in the Tribune and were syndicated by the company. Some of them — like Harold Gray of Little Orphan Annie and Gus Edson of The Gumps — you may have heard of. Many of them are so obscure, even I never knew of them.

Thanks to Anthony Tollin for telling me about this. I wonder how many of these guys actually drew their strips each day wearing a suit and tie. If they worked in an office at the Tribune offices, they probably did…

Last night, five late night hosts told essentially the same joke. It probably would have been six if it had been Friday and Bill Maher was on.

Lately, I find myself not driving as much as I used to. Since I do most of my work at home, I've never put a lot of miles on my car but in recent years, even that total has diminished. One reason is how bad traffic has gotten in some areas around me. Another is the rise of services like Lyft and Uber. It's simply easier to use them for some appointments, like when I go to my ophthalmologist, as I did last week for my annual check-up.

Driving there costs me some unknown amount of cash for the gas but it also costs me $12 to park in his building. Round trip by Lyft came to about $15 so it's less than three dollars to save myself the aggravation of driving myself. I've also had some great conversations with Lyft and Uber drivers.

Other reasons for driving less: I now have a real good assistant to run errands and then there's my still-relatively-new knee which works well but occasionally is not in the mood to work the pedals, especially when it's likely to be a lot of stop-and-go and stop-and-go and stop-and go. I didn't drive at all in the months after I got it and I got used to alternate modes of transportation. Plus, it was good for the knee to walk some short distances I might otherwise have driven.

And then there's the bus. Yes, the bus. There are some destinations in L.A. that are hell to get to by bus but many which are a breeze if you have two things. One is a Tap card, which you can buy and reload on the net. The other is the Google Maps app I have on my phone. At least in my experience, it's great at telling you which bus to take, where to wait for it, when it'll be along and when it'll get you where you're going. You also can read your iPad as you travel on the bus and you sometimes get good anecdotes.

Yesterday, I journeyed into Beverly Hills to meet with my Business Manager Person. I do this every so often so I can make sure he's still in the country and hasn't absconded to Peru with all my money. I probably shouldn't worry since all my money would actually get him about as far as Hermosa Beach and only if he took the bus and used the senior discount.

On the way there, I was running late so I took a Lyft. The driver overheard my end of a phone conversation with Paul Dini and figured out I was involved in comic books. We then had such a nice chat about conventions that I was almost disappointed when we arrived at my destination and it had to end. On the way home, I took a bus. Sitting next to me was a person who looked like Steve Bannon would look if Steve Bannon had a gender-reassignment.

She was telling everyone — not just me — how screwed-up the world was and especially "those idiots in Washington." She was harsher on Republicans than Democrats because Republicans are in power, but not fond of either. At one point she said, "Trump oughta bring me to Washington and let me tell him what to do" and I told her, "The way things are going, you may get a call any day now."

Not that any of us passengers were that interested but she told us all what she would do. "Locked rooms," she said. "You want to solve health insurance? You take all the people who have to agree on health insurance and you lock them in a room. Nobody gets out to eat or pee until they solve it.

"Taxes?" she said. "Put 'em all in a room, lock the door and nobody gets out until they get a deal!" For about eleven blocks, she ticked off the issues of the day — guns, gay rights, defense, election fraud…all of them are instantly solvable if we just start locking people in rooms without snacks or toilets.

As she was saying all this, I was exchanging looks with other passengers. There was much eye-rolling on that bus and quiet tolerance of the crazy lady in our midst. But as I got off, another passenger was getting off at the same stop and I said to him, "Gee, I'm almost sorry the ride's over. I wanted to hear about locking the leaders of Israel and Egypt in a room until they agree on what to do about Gaza."

The man chuckled and said, "You know, what scares me is that I don't see anyone around these days who makes a whole lotta sense more than she does!"

Baby Goats and a Big Pig…